Servant of Magic
by CatchingCraziness
Summary: Based after Season 3. Morgana, driven by revenge, kidnaps Merlin while he, Arthur, Gwaine, and Lancelot are out hunting.
1. Chapter 1

**Title:**** Servant of Magic**

**Warning:** **Spoilers from season 3.**

**Summary:**** Based after Season 3. Morgana, driven by revenge, kidnaps Merlin while he, Arthur, Gwaine, and Lancelot are out hunting, this immediately sets off a chain of reactions no one could predict. Can they all make it out alive?**

**Disclaimer:**** I do not own Merlin (no matter how much I'd like to). I'm just borrowing him for a bit of non-profit fun.**

**Author's Note:**** Hi there, this is my first fanfic so please don't judge it too harshly, but I do want everyone to comment and say if you like it. If you like it tell me why, if you don't, tell me why again. Tell me anything I can do to improve. Enjoy! **

**Chapter 1**

Merlin's POV

"You ok back there Merlin?" Arthur called back from his horse in front of me.

"Great sire," I said.

Gwaine and Lancelot chuckled, both of them were also in front of me, positioned to protect the prince if need be.

We rode on for a while longer before Arthur decided it was time to set camp; by this I mean watch as I set up camp.

"Done," I said, satisfied.

I stood back to admire my handiwork: the fire was lit, the blankets rolled out ready to sleep on, and all the bags were safe.

"Good, you can go get firewood," Arthur clapped me on the back.

"He's just set up camp sire, I can go," Gwaine offered.

"Nonsense, if Merlin's here, he can go," Arthur said.

I sighed and walked away from camp.

"Collect firewood Merlin, set camp Merlin, do this Merlin, do that Merlin, the royal prat," I muttered.

Picking up a few pieces of wood I paused, convinced I'd heard something. After a few moments I continued collecting the wood, must have been an animal. Though I'd continued picking up wood, I was still of alert for any noise, which was why when I heard someone come up behind me I automatically spun around, my mouth open ready to cast a spell, magic risen inside me.

"Merlin, calm down," Lancelot said.

I breathed a sigh of relief letting my magic sink back down.

"Lancelot, what's wrong?" I asked, bending over to grab a few more sticks.

"Nothing, Arthur got worried you'd been gone so long, is everything ok?" He said.

"Yeah, though I heard a noise earlier, must have been an animal," I shrugged.

"Good, let's go then, you look to have enough wood," Lancelot eyes the pile of wood in my arms like I was going to drop it.

We continued back to camp where I dumped the wood next to the fire with no fuss. Gwaine handed me a bowl of something, I was too tired to ask so I just ate it quickly and lay down. It didn't take long for me to fall asleep…

_I found myself in a black space._

"_Merlin, Come to me Merlin, I'm waiting for you, please Merlin, I'm so alone," a voice echoed._

"_Freya? Freya! I'm coming!" I shouted, trying desperately to move. _

I woke up with a gasp.

"Are you alright Merlin?" Gwaine asked, looking up at me.

"Yeah, fine, just a bad dream," I mumbled.

Looking around, I noticed Lancelot and Arthur were already asleep, and Gwaine soon went back to sleep too.

"Freya," I whispered.

Even after all this time I still loved her, if there was any chance she was in trouble I had to help. We weren't camped too far away from the lake where I put Freya to rest. It would only take me a few moments to get there.

As quietly as I could, I got up and snuck out of the campsite. I didn't run into any problems getting to the lake, but once there I collapsed on the edge.

Too many memories crowding my head.

"Freya, why did you have to leave me?" I asked heartbrokenly.

I rested there for a while, just sat at the edge of the lake, staring at the water. Though no matter how long I stayed there, Freya was not there, she had passed on long ago, and the dream had just been a nightmare, nothing more.

With a sigh, I pulled myself up and turned around. Only to find myself surrounded by men holding swords at my throat.

How did they get there? Was I really that involved in my memories I hadn't realized a whole group of armoured men had surrounded me? Merlin, I thought to myself, you are officially the worst warlock ever.

"Any chance of you letting me go?" I asked hopefully, before someone knocked me around the head.

"I guess not," I muttered, blacking out.

**I hope you liked it. See the little button here? Click it, and tell me what you think. :) **


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:**** I do not own Merlin (no matter how much I'd like to). I'm just borrowing him for a bit of non-profit fun.**

**Author's Note:**** Hi again, I couldn't believe how many people put this on story alert and reviewed. Safe to say I feel ecstatic. Please review on this chapter too. Enjoy!**

**Chapter 2**

Arthur's POV

Looking around, I slowly sat up and yawned, automatically checking everyone and everything was where it should be.

Gwaine and Lancelot were already awake and sitting around the burnt out embers of last night's fire. Merlin, it seemed, was no where in sight. Stifling a sigh of annoyance, I stood up and went over to my knights.

"Where is he then?" I asked, no need to ask who I meant.

"We don't know sire, he's been missing since we woke up," Lancelot answered, frowning slightly.

"Any ideas as to where he's gone?" I asked.

"He muttered something about someone called Freya in his sleep, but he said it was a bad dream," Gwaine remembered.

"He also said he heard a noise when collecting firewood last night," Lancelot commented.

"I don't have a clue who Freya is, or what the noise last night was, but I do know when he's troubled, Merlin goes to a lake not too far from here," I said, already beginning to pack up.

Once everything was packed up, they realized Merlin's horse was still with the others, after a moment of indecision, they tied it onto Gwaine's horse, and with me leading the way, began our way to the lake.

At the lake they began to piece together what had happened; by the mark close to the lakes edge, it looked as though several people had surrounded another, I prayed the surrounded one wasn't Merlin, but I had a feeling it was. The rest of the tracks led away from the lake, but one persons tracks weren't there though a few others were deeper, like they were carrying something, or someone.

"Seems like Merlin's got himself kidnapped," Gwaine said dryly.

"He would have fought back," Lancelot pointed out.

I snorted at the thought of Merlin fighting.

"Arthur!" Gwaine shouted.

Lancelot and I ran over to where Gwaine was; nearest to the surrounded tracks. He picked up a piece of torn material; it was the same shade of Merlin's top, except it was dotted with blood.

My blood ran cold at the thought of Merlin, one of my only friends, being hurt, but I pushed my emotions down and began looking for clues as to where they took him.

Unfortunately, the only other tracks any of us could find were the ones leading away from the lake, there were no tracks even leading towards the lake.

"Well we don't have all day, are we all going after him, or am I going alone?" Gwaine asked.

"We're going after him," I said, determined.

We began following the tracks further away from the lake and Camelot, leading us into the no mans land that used to be Cenred's kingdom. The land was riddled with bandits all trying to claim the throne. It was rumoured Morgana was somewhere in the fallen kingdom, but no knights that went in came out without sustaining serious injury from bandits.

"Any idea where we're going?" I asked.

It was beginning to get dark, we soon wouldn't be able to see the tracks, not only because it would be too dark, but also because if I was getting tired then the others would be too.

"I'm going to take a guess," Gwaine said, "and say the tracks lead to there."

He nodded at an old castle; it looked like a place a bandit would stay. Looking down at the tracks I realized Gwaine was probably right, for a change.

"If we rest here tonight, we can rescue Merlin tomorrow when we're better rested," I decided.

Though I had a horrible feeling rescuing my hopeless servant would be a lot harder then it seemed. After all, it was _Merlin_ we had to rescue; he made everything ten times more complicated than it was before.

We unloaded the horses, making sure to tie them up afterwards, and set the camp. Sitting around the fire, I tried to decide who had to go on first watch, since we were in bandit land, one of us had to stay awake at all times.

"Who wants first watch?" I asked eventually.

"Are you offering?" Gwaine quipped.

"I'll do it," Lancelot spoke up.

"Thanks, wake one of us up when you get tired," I patted Lancelot on the back.

Yawning, I lay down and went to sleep.

Lancelot's POV

"Make sure you wake _him_ up when you get tired, not me," Gwaine said, nodding at Arthur; who was already asleep.

I chuckled, waiting until I was sure he was asleep before sitting down by the fire, and staring into the flames.

I knew some druids could talk to people mind to mind, but I wasn't sure if it worked between warlocks and non-magic folk like me, it was worth a shot. I continued staring into the flames, making sure to stay alert at the same time since I was on watch. I focused on how Merlin looked like, everything I could remember.

_Merlin? Are you there? Can you hear me? Where are you?_ I thought, attempting to send them towards Merlin. After a few moments of silence I felt a little silly, though I kept trying, refusing to give up.

_We're coming Merlin, hold on._ I sighed, I was beginning to get tired staring at the fire. Wrenching myself back to my surroundings, I stood up and leaned against a tree, determined to keep watch of my prince. I tried to reassure myself by thinking about the fact Merlin was a warlock and probably fine, though I had a feeling he was in more trouble than ever.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer:**** I do not own Merlin (no matter how much I'd like to). I'm just borrowing him for a bit of non-profit fun.**

**Author's Note:**** Thanks to everyone who's commented, keep it up. Just too clear up confusion; this story is set after Season 3. Sorry about how many times this chapter swaps POV's. Enjoy!**

**Chapter 3**

Morgana's POV

"The prisoner is awake," one of my guards informed me.

Without answering him, I made my way to my prisoner. He was pacing his cell, every so often looking around.

"You look hunted, Merlin," I said softly, stepping out of the shadows.

_Merlin_: the boy responsible for everything wrong in my life. His face betrayed his shock, but he soon got over it.

"What do you want from me?" He demanded.

"Now, Merlin, not everything is about you. No, you're bait, Arthur and his men will come for you, and then you'll all die. Arthur so I can take the throne, his en for following Uther, and you for killing my _sister_," I hissed the last word.

The death of my beloved sister still hurt, it had only been two months, she was the only person who had understood. I blinked back tears, letting my anger replace the all consuming grief.

"Who's Freya?" I asked, needing to change the subject from Morgause.

Shock showed on Merlin's face for the second time that night, but he remained silent this time.

It had, of course, been me who had sent the dream to Merlin, but I still didn't know what he saw. The spell had been to send him a dream that would make him leave camp, I only knew it was about someone called Freya because he had named her by the lake and my men had informed me.

Before I could press the matter, a guard came into the room to inform me Arthur and two of Camelot's knights had been sighted; heading towards the castle.

"So the fun begins," I smiled. "_Drywanu ef_."

I waved my hand at the sword the guard had given me, and watched with satisfaction as it soared through the air before landing in Merlin's gut, he didn't even have a chance to see it coming before it was buried in him.

"Seems you've lost your usefulness, after all, now that Arthur is on his way, why should I keep you alive?" I laughed.

Savouring the look of intense pain on Merlin's face, I turned and walked out of the room. I had a prince and his knights to deal with.

Merlin's POV

Pain. Hard to ignore, can't mean anything good, pain.

Barely stifling a scream that was building inside me, I looked down at the sword sticking out of my gut. It looked safe to pull out, I remembered Gaius telling me that leaving the object in the wound could stop blood loss, but to know if my magic could heal this wound, I needed to be able to remove the sword.

I grasped the handle with both hands and prepared to pull the sword out, but I couldn't do it. I didn't want to face the pain which would come with it being removed.

_Merlin? Are you there? Can you hear me? Where are you?_

The shock of hearing Lancelot's voice in my head had me instinctively pulling out the sword. A wave of pain hit me immediately, leaving me not able to reply. I swayed with the pain for awhile.

_We're coming Merlin, hold on._ The voice said; it was just like with the druids, except it was less powerful. I had no doubt I could block it if need be.

No! I wanted to shout. It's a trap! But instead the pain wrapped itself around my mind and forced me into the painless black oblivion.

Gwaine's POV

Something was bothering Lancelot, something more than Merlin being missing. I was concerned about finding Merlin, but I knew Lancelot was too. So I waited until we set off towards the castle after waking up, with Arthur in lead of course, and then decided to talk to him. This was a big thing for me, as everyone already knew, I didn't really do serious.

"What's wrong then? Might as well tell me now, we both know I won't ask again," I asked, cursing inwardly that I'd made something serious into a joke.

"Nothing," Lancelot looked surprised, but I saw his eyes flicker to Arthur quickly.

"Really?" I asked doubtfully.

"Really," he repeated firmly, before speeding his horse up to catch Arthur.

There was no need to catch Arthur up though, we'd arrived at the castle, and had several men pointing arrows at us, and in the middle of them all was Morgana.

"Now this is a welcome party," I whistled.

Merlin's POV

"Merlin?" A voice was asking.

"Have you seen that wound? He's probably out cold," I recognized Arthur's voice.

"The joy of proving you wrong," I muttered, opening my eyes.

Gwaine, Lancelot, and Arthur were in my cell, Gwaine was in front of me, while Arthur and Lancelot were sat on the floor across from me.

"Merlin! Are you okay?" The same voice as before asked, I realized it was Lancelot; he was beginning to get up.

"I'm sure he couldn't be better, after all, he's only been stabbed, no problem," Gwaine said sarcastically.

"I don't remember asking you," Arthur said.

"As nice as it is to have you two arguing over me, I'd really prefer if you helped me sit up," I grumbled.

Gwaine grasped my hands and propped me into sitting position. I hissed when my stomach reacted to the movement, and I felt more blood pool out of the wound.

"Sorry," Gwaine muttered.

We stayed there for a while longer, each lost in our own thoughts. In my head, my dream of Freya was playing over and over, I knew now it was of Morgana's doing, but I couldn't make myself regret going to the lake. I'd do it again, if it meant Freya stayed safe even after death.

"Merlin, I'm surprised to see you alive," Morgana appeared out of no where.

She paused for a moment, watching us, and then walked away. Disappearing as if she was never there.

"Come on then, let's have a look at the wound," Arthur stood up and walked over to me. He winced slightly when I lifted my top up, but otherwise continued to inspect the area.

"This might hurt a bit," Arthur muttered, pressing on around the edges of the hole.

A bit, was an understatement, the pain was so bad it felt like a fire inside my gut, like the sword was piercing me again. I couldn't stay awake any longer, so for the second time, I passed out.

Arthur's POV

"He's passed out," Gwaine pointed out.

"I warned him it would hurt," I said, gritting my teeth.

There was nothing I could do, it made me feel helpless, and I didn't like it. Normally, I could wrap something around the wound, but since it was on the stomach, we didn't have enough material to wrap around Merlin at the moment. The wound looked big, and I couldn't help but think the worst. If we didn't escape soon, there would be one less of us leaving.

**I hope you liked it. See the little button here? Click it, tell me what you think. :) **

**Once again I'm sorry for how many times it swaps characters; I know it's a little confusing. Hopefully I'll have the next chapter up soon. Thanks for reading.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer:**** I do not own Merlin (no matter how much I'd like to). I'm just borrowing him for a bit of non-profit fun.**

**Author's Note:**** A big Thank You to everyone who's reviewed, and waited patiently for this chapter, I hope you think it was worth waiting for. Enjoy!**

**Chapter 4 **

Lancelot's POV

This wasn't good. It had been two days since we were captured, two days since Merlin had fallen unconscious. He now had a bad fever and I had a feeling the wound was infected.

"We have to get out of here, Merlin isn't going to last much longer," I said suddenly.

"Any idea how?" Arthur snarled; he didn't like seeing Merlin like this any more than I did.

"We could always ask Morgana nicely," Gwaine said from the corner of the cell.

"Now's not the time for jokes, Gwaine!" Arthur shouted.

"That's Sir Gwaine to you," he said automatically.

Arthur snarled and took a threatening step forwards, but before he could do anything else Merlin made a sound of distress.

"Merlin?" I asked.

I placed my hand on his head: he was burning up again.

"No, no don't, Freya!" Merlin moaned, tossing restlessly.

"Merlin? Merlin, wake up!" Gwaine shook his shoulder, all trace of joking gone.

"Gwaine?" Merlin's eyes open but they look glazed and confused.

"Finally, you've been out for two days," I informed him, giving him a tight smile.

"What's…plan?" He asked, gasping.

We all turned to Arthur, his face hardened.

"We escape," he said.

"Excellent, why didn't we think of that?" Gwaine rolled his eyes.

"Let's get some sleep and think about it in the morning," I suggested, hopefully stopping an argument.

Arthur and Gwaine settled down, falling asleep quickly like only knights could. Once they were fully asleep, I turned to Merlin.

"Can you heal it?" I asked.

He closed his eyes and put his hands over the wound with a thoughtful look on his face.

"_Llosgi allan haint_," his eyes glowed gold for a moment before he moved his hand away.

I lifted up his top carefully, the wound look the same to me, though some of the redness and swelling seemed to be gone.

"I don't know a spell to heal fully, so I got rid of the infection," Merlin explained when he saw my puzzled expression.

Nodding, I put the top back down, choosing to ignore his wince. Hesitating, I finally asked the question that I'd been wondering about all night.

"Who's Freya?" I asked.

Immediately I wished I hadn't asked, Merlin looked startled, and his eyes had a haunted look about them; I knew without asking what had happened to this girl; it was written on his face.

Merlin's POV

"She was a girl I knew once, I fell in love with her and we planned to run away together," I said after a moment.

"What happened?" Lancelot asked softly.

"In the end she left without me, going somewhere I knew I couldn't follow, though I thought of doing, sometimes I wish I had followed her, it was only my loyalty to Arthur that kept me here," I admitted, hearing the regret in my voice.

"Where did she go?" Lancelot asked.

"She died the night we were going to run away, a stab wound," my voice broke, it still hurt to think about, and after she came to me with the sword the grief was still so raw.

"And you thought of following her? To death?" Lancelot blanched.

"So many people have died, so many innocents," I said, my voice sounded far away even to my own ears.

"Like who?" He demanded.

"Freya, she died in my arms because I couldn't keep my promise to protect her. Will, he died before I could stop it. My father, he died the day after I met him trying to protect me," I could have gone on, but those were the ones that hurt the most, I knew I had silent tears down my face, but I didn't care.

Lancelot looked shocked, but he stayed silent, I ignored him, closing my eyes and trying to sleep. He took the hint; I heard him step away and settle down. Sighing in relief, I fell into a restful sleep.

Gwaine's POV

Carefully, I shifted my weight, not letting any one realize I was awake, Merlin didn't know I was awake; he didn't know I'd heard him. Merlin was a _sorcerer_. Somehow, it didn't surprise me; I think some part of me already knew. I was more worried about the grief he was feeling, so ignoring the fact Merlin had magic, I instead focused on his pain.

What sort of friend was I? I'd known about his father and I felt his grief, but he doesn't show any other grief. Merlin had lost so much. I wondered briefly if Arthur knew anything, about Merlin being a sorcerer or his pain.

Eventually, with these thoughts echoing around my head, I managed to drift into sleep.

Morgana's POV

Watching, waiting, that was all that needed to be done. The original plan had been to kill them all and be done with it, but this new plan was much much better, and it was already in action. All I had to do was injure Merlin, then sit back and watch. I had no need of them now; this new plan just meant I had to get rid of them now. Of course I couldn't just let them escape or they'd manage to get back to England and that wasn't part of the plan.

Instead I'd found their biggest weakness: Merlin.

A cold smile found itself on my face as I told the guard to give our prisoners a little gift, but under no reason was he to touch it without something covering it.

"_Symud y rhai sydd yn meiddio cyffwrdd_," I cast the spell on the dagger in my hand then placed it into an old bag, making sure not to touch it with my skin.

I handed the bag containing the dagger to the guard and watched as he walked in the direction of the prisoner's cell. Now to see what they were made of. It would be pointless to kill them myself, so instead I could send them to someone much more powerful and see what fate declares.

Gwaine's POV 

A guard walked past our cell, he stopped, dropped a bag between the bars, and then walked away. Strange.

"Don't touch it!" Merlin cried as Arthur went forward to reach for the bag.

"If Morgana wanted us dead, we'd be dead," Arthur said simply.

He picked up the bag, held it upside down, and watched as a decorated dagger landed on the floor.

"That's the dagger I gave to Morgana for her birthday," Arthur looked surprised.

"Don't touch it!" Merlin repeated.

"What's the worst that could happen?" Arthur asked.

Ignoring Merlin, Arthur reached down towards the dagger, but as soon as he touched it he vanished.

"Interesting," I snorted.

"We're going to have to touch it to go after the prat. I warned him," Merlin sighed.

"We could just leave him…" I trailed off hopefully.

Lancelot laughed at that, reached forward, and touched the dagger, disappearing just like Arthur.

I shrugged at Merlin, secretly hoping that if anything went wrong he was powerful enough to save us, and together we touched the dagger. Swirling around and around, I began to feel worse than ever; including worse than my worst hangover.

While spinning, my first thought was bizarrely that if others found out me and Lancelot knew about Merlin being a sorcerer then we'd die and at the moment we were breaking out knight's code. I snorted; I'd never been one for rules anyway. Before I could think anymore we landed, luckily on our feet.

"Where are we?" I asked curiously.

Looking around, it seemed like we were in the ruins of a castle.

"We're at the Isle of the Blessed," Merlin groaned, whether out of pain or just because of where we were, I didn't know.

"That doesn't sound good," I said.

"It's not all bad," A female voice said.

**Hope you liked it, Chapter 5 has already been started so it should be out soon and since my school broke up yesterday, I have lots more time to write. See the little button here? Click it, tell me what you think. :) **


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer:**** I do not own Merlin (no matter how much I'd like to). I'm just borrowing him for a bit of non-profit fun.**

**Author's Note:**** Thank you once again to everyone who commented. Especially **_**lunaprinc3ss **_**who gave me some advice that helped make this Chapter. Enjoy!**

**Chapter 5**

Merlin's POV

Spinning around so quick I could have been put under another teleporting spell, I glared at the woman in front of us. _Nimueh_.

"You're meant to be dead!" I said.

How on earth did she survive being struck by lightning? What about the balance of to save a life a life must be taken? Who died so we could all live?

"Yes, I should be, but as Priestess of the Isle of the Blessed, the Old Religion couldn't just let me die. So instead, someone else died to save me. How does it feel Emrys, to know because of you an innocent is dead?" Nimueh laughed.

It seemed like Arthur was frozen in shock, he was staring at Nimueh with a strange expression of hate on his face. To be honest, I was more concerned about the fact it was taking all my concentration to stay stood up when my wound demanded I sit, then of Nimueh. After all, if destiny was right she couldn't kill us.

"Will you give us free pass? Or will you misuse your powers like before?" I asked.

"I will grant you free pass. Only because I have learnt, I no longer take sides in this war of magic. After all, we are all just servants," Nimueh said.

I noticed it then, the power she was emitting; not evil, just pure and powerful. She really had changed, instead of like before, Nimueh really wasn't taking sides, the Old Religion had taken over her, she was right. We were just servants, just servants of magic.

"I'm not a servant; I'm Prince Arthur of Camelot!" Arthur exclaimed.

"I know who you are, I meant that we are all servants of magic, bound on this world by the powers that only few can control," she said softly.

Arthur looked like he was going to argue, so I quickly intervened.

"You give us free pass, may we leave?" I asked.

"Yes, though I suggest you wait the night, for you wound to heal completely," she smiled.

"_Hud arbed hud_," Nimueh cast the spell towards me.

I felt a moment of dizziness before the pain in my gut went away. Ignoring Arthur's question about what she'd done, I lifted up my top to see the wound healing slowly, by morning it would be gone, but Nimueh was right, we would have to stay on the Isle for the night.

"Good luck Emrys," Nimueh smiled at me, before disappearing.

"Where's she gone?" Arthur asked quickly.

"Who cares, at least she's gone, there was something creepy about her," Gwaine said.

"Are you ok, Merlin?" Lancelot asked, he had a strange look on his face.

"I'm fine, the wounds healing up, but Nimueh's right, we'll have to stay here for the night," I sighed, anticipating Arthur's reaction of shouting.

"Fine, Gwaine, Lancelot, help Merlin set up camp, I'm going to have a look around this place," Arthur said.

Shocked he hadn't told me to stop being a girl and get going, I watched as Arthur walked off.

"Well this won't take three of us to set up, Merlin you just sit down," Gwaine said once Arthur was gone.

I wasn't going to argue when my wound was beginning to throb, though it was still healing luckily. Instead of helping them set up camp, I sat down and tried to read the engravings on the stone in the middle of where we were. It looked like Old Religion, which would make most sense, but it was scratched and hard to work out. I tuned out Gwaine and Lancelot, focusing on the markings.

Gwaine's POV

"Done," Lancelot stepped back and looked at the now set up camp. "Doesn't look like we've done too badly," he added.

"Listen, I heard you and Merlin talking last night, I know he's a sorcerer," I blurted out, looking over to check Merlin hadn't heard.

Lancelot froze; he looked so shocked it would have been funny if it wasn't for the fact Merlin being a sorcerer was so serious. Though truthfully Merlin having magic was pretty funny too.

"Don't tell Arthur, we don't know what his reaction would be," Lancelot said in a rush.

"Who do you think I am? I don't want to watch Merlin burn thank you very much," I said, slightly insulted.

"Good, does Merlin know you know?" He asked.

"Not yet, I want to try something first," I said.

Watching Merlin, it was safe to say he was occupied reading the stone.

"Emrys!" I shouted, at the same time, I threw a stone at him.

Merlin reacted to the name, he spun around, clearly looking for who had called him, and then when he saw the stone his eyes turned gold. Suddenly he was out of the path of the stone, if I hadn't been watching for magic I wouldn't have noticed.

"Impressive, what spell did you use?" I asked, walking over to the shocked sorcerer.

"How did you know?" He asked.

"Overheard you and Lancelot last night, but I'm not going to turn you in," I grinned.

Merlin grinned back at me.

"What sort of name is Emrys?" Lancelot asked.

"I don't know, it's just what the druids call me," Merlin shrugged.

"Come on then, you have to have some exciting stories of a sorcerer," I said.

We sat down in the camp.

"I'm not a sorcerer, I'm a warlock," Merlin said.

"What's the difference?" Lancelot asked, just as I was about to ask the same thing.

"A sorcerer chooses to learn magic; a warlock is born that way and has no choice. My magic is instinct, I couldn't get rid of it anymore than Arthur could stop being a prince," Merlin explained.

"I didn't know people could be born with magic," I said.

"As for as I know, it's rare, I'm the only one I think," Merlin looked thoughtful.

"Come on then, enough thoughts, tell us about the times you've saved Arthur, because there's no way he got this far without you," Lancelot laughed.

So Merlin told us; and there was a lot. I could list them all but it would take far too long, he should have been knighted, he was defiantly braver than I was. Though there were bits he kept back, when talking about certain things he left bits out, like about the dragon escaping and finding Balinor. There was also things he looked about to say but then didn't. By the end of his tales though, both me and Lancelot looked shocked. He was more powerful than I'd thought, but also extremely loyal to Arthur by the sounds of it.

"I can't believe it," Lancelot shook his head. "To think Arthur doesn't even know."

"Speaking of Arthur, where is he?" I asked, looking around.

While we were talking it had gotten dark, but Arthur still wasn't any where to be seen. Finally deciding to split up and look for the prince, we set off around the small Isle. I'd barely gone a few steps when Merlin had called me back though.

"I've found him!" Merlin shouted.

I ran back and stopped beside Merlin and Lancelot. Arthur was on the floor unconscious, he had a bad gash on his head.

"Looks like we're going to have to stay here for longer," Lancelot sighed.

"Looks more like someone's trying to keep us on this Isle," I said.

"Nimueh," Merlin hissed.

**See the little button here? Click it, tell me what you think. :)**


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer:**** I do not own Merlin (no matter how much I'd like to). I'm just borrowing him for a bit of non-profit fun.**

**Author's Note:**** Thanks to everyone who commented, all the comments made me smile. I hope you like this Chapter, though if you don't think the characters match tell me so I can change it please. Sorry for the delay, I had some Christmas parties to go to (though I'd have preferred to stay home and write this much more). Enjoy!**

**Chapter 6**

Merlin's POV

The fact someone was trying to keep them on an obviously magical island did nothing for my nerves. Every sound had me on high alert as I walked around the camp. Gwaine and Lancelot were asleep, and Arthur was still out cold, he hadn't woken up once since we found him earlier this evening. It was my turn to keep watch, so naturally there were warning spells surrounding the camp.

Who was keeping us here? That was the question, Gwaine and Lancelot were convinced it was Nimueh, and my first suspect was her too. There was just something I couldn't describe, when I saw Nimueh, there was something pure about her, like she'd changed. I couldn't describe it to Gwaine or Lancelot, but I didn't think the person (or people?) keeping us here was Nimueh.

The problem was, since we got here, we hadn't seen Nimueh again. I was tempted to try summoning her to me so I could find out, but if she was keeping us here then I'd be inviting her into camp and that could only cause trouble. My other choice was to go find her myself, but if I did that (and I'm not trying to sound big headed) everyone else would be left unprotected.

I stopped my pacing and sat down by the dying fire, picking up a stick and poking the fire. I just wish I knew what was happening.

"Are you ok, Merlin?" Lancelot sat down next to, making me jump.

"Yeah, I thought you were asleep," I ran a hand across my eyes.

"I was, but I woke up, I'll take over watch, get some sleep," he waved a hand towards the sleeping place.

"I think I might, thanks, Lancelot," I yawned.

Arthur's POV

Blinding light, a woman's face, and then complete blackness. Where am I? I can't remember. If I listen hard enough I can hear people talking, something about magic, though I can't make sense of it. After a while I give up listening and instead try to wake up. Thoughts come back to me, memories.

My body seems unresponsive, my head pounding. Though this is nothing new, as crowned prince of Camelot I have had my share of head injuries. Something's different though, there's something more to my injury.

I can only think of one thing behind it: Magic.

Groaning softly, I attempt to open my eyes, it works. It looks to be night, and still on the Isle of the Blessed.

Someone is walking over to me, Merlin?

"Sire? Arthur? Are you awake?" No, not Merlin, Lancelot.

"Lancelot? What the hell happened?" I demanded, sitting up and wincing as it felt like my head split open.

"We don't know, we found you unconscious, you've been out for a day now," Lancelot said, he helped me stand up, realizing I was going to get up alone otherwise.

"I'll wake the others, they'll want to know you're awake," Lancelot smiled.

I grunted in reply and sat down around the small fire, everything looked just as it had when I left before being injured.

"Look who's finally awake," Gwaine chuckled.

"How's your head?" Merlin asked.

Merlin came over to where I was sitting and checked it over. Eventually stepping back and claiming that it seems to be healing quite well.

"What do you remember?" Gwaine asked.

We were all sat around the fire now, the first traces of dawn appearing.

"Not much, I remember a bright light, and then a woman's face, but after that I felt a pain on my head and woke up here," I frowned.

"We figure someone's trying to keep us here," Lancelot gestured around him.

"Nimueh?" I guessed.

"That would be my guess, but Merlin doesn't agree," Gwaine said.

"It just doesn't feel right," Merlin defended.

"If it's not Nimueh then who is it?" Lancelot argued.

This was obviously a conversation they'd had often while I was 'asleep'. I thought about what they were saying and my first guess would be to say Nimueh, but I do trust Merlin, not that I'd ever tell him that. Normally, Merlin ends up being right about these sort of things. Frustrated, I ran a hand through my hair and tried to clear my head.

"Right, how long have we been here?" I asked, interrupting the argument.

"About two and a half days," Merlin said immediately.

"Ok, second question, why would anyone want to keep us here?" I asked.

"It could have something to do with the fact you're the prince of Camelot," Gwaine snorted.

"Fine, what use would it be to have us stuck here?" I asked, containing my smile.

"Well, the Isle of the Blessed is a very magical place, it's one of the last places that holds a link to the Old Religion," Merlin said.

"How on earth do you know that?" I asked, staring at Merlin.

"Gaius told me when you were bitten by the Questing Beast," Merlin looked uncomfortable.

"What does that have to do with the Old Religion?" I was confused; I still had a slight scar from that bite.

"The Questing Beast is a creature of the Old Religion," he looked even more uncomfortable now.

"Anyway, why would someone want to keep us somewhere with the Old Religion?" Lancelot intervened.

"Do we really have to go back through the whole Arthur, prince, thing again?" Gwaine sighed.

"Fine, who could be keeping us here?" I asked, mentally listing everyone.

"Nimueh?" Lancelot said.

Merlin sighed, and rubbed his eyes.

"I just don't think it's her," he sighed.

"Why don't we just ask her?" Gwaine said, pointing behind me.

I spun around to find Nimueh standing before the camp with a confused expression on her face.

**Hope you liked it, I managed to keep it on just two POV's this time. Happy New Year! See the little button here? Click it, tell me what you think. :)**


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer:**** I do not own Merlin (no matter how much I'd like to). I'm just borrowing him for a bit of non-profit fun.**

**Author's Note:**** Thanks for the reviews, and sorry for the delay. This is almost the last chapter. After this it's finally finished, sorry it's not a great ending, but maybe somebody out there will like it. Enjoy!**

**Chapter 7**

Merlin's POV

My magic vibrated warningly, Nimueh put her hands up to the shield but she seemed unable to go further. She was sending her magic towards my shield.

"What do you want, Nimueh?" Arthur asked.

"Let me in, Emrys. I swear it is not me keeping you here," she ignored Arthur, looking instead at me.

"How do we know we can trust you?" Gwaine asked.

"I can bring you the person that is really keeping you here, and you need answers," she said.

"Show us then," Arthur demanded.

Nimueh looked away from me to look at Arthur. Without breaking eye contact with him, she made a circling gesture in the air and stood back. Suddenly, there was a flash and a young girl appeared in front of Nimueh.

It seemed the Old Religion had given Nimueh more powers. She certainly wasn't that powerful before.

"Her? She's just a little girl!" Arthur exclaimed.

I sighed at that, this was obviously no normal girl: there was an aura of magic surrounding her. She looked around seven years old, with long blonde hair and brown eyes that were strangely familiar, but filled with hatred.

"_I can do no more, as a Priestess here, I have done all the Old Religion will not let me do any more, it is up to you now, Emrys, to keep your destiny alive_," Nimueh announced inside my head, she sounded regretful, before disappearing.

"Who are you?" Lancelot asked, looking at the girl.

"Have I been gone so long you don't remember me? If I remember correctly, you were there to see me die," the little girl said.

Her voice was young, but there was no childlike innocence in it. In fact, it was impossible for me to not recognise her.

"You're dead, how is this possible?" I demanded.

"Nimueh came back, though she is freer...at least for now," she grinned evilly.

"Who is it? Who is she?" Gwaine asked.

"It's Morgause," I said in a hallow voice.

Arthur's POV

"Morgause? But, I thought she was dead," I said.

"Okay, I get that you're all confused about how she's alive and looks around seven, but shouldn't we focus on why she wants us here? Personally, I think that's more important," Gwaine interrupted.

"Why do you want us here?" Lancelot asked.

"_Newid i mi am ddim_," she said.

"Nothing happened," I looked around carefully.

"It's not a spell, it's a powerful magic," Merlin said.

"You know too much, Merlin," Morgause frowned.

She cautiously moved away from the camp, I felt her checking where the shield was, making sure it wasn't behind her before making a complicated movement that was too fast for me to understand. A moment later she was gone.

I turned to look at Merlin, only to find him pacing around camp, looking incredibly worried.

"What's happening? Why does she want us here?" I asked, watching Merlin pace.

"_Newid i mi am ddim_ is a powerful magic from the Old Religion, or more importantly, from the Isle of the Blessed. It claims that any sorcerer brought back to life by someone of the same blood must begin life again must begin at the age of seven, to be reborn in magic. But there's a catch, if the sorcerer's soul is not pure, they are cursed to live on the Isle of the Blessed for a week, if _Cyfnewid mi rhad ac am ddim_ isn't cast then they die at the end of the week. _Cyfnewid mi rhad ac am ddim_ is a powerful spell, if the trapped sorcerer can find another to take their place then the other person is killed and the sorcerer goes free," Merlin explained.

"Why would the Old Religion make sorcerers come back as seven years old?" I asked.

"Seven is one of the most powerful numbers, in fact, it takes seven body jolts to swap places with the sorcerer," Merlin explained.

"Body jolts?" Gwaine repeated.

"A jolt of pain," Merlin said.

"Anyway, why hasn't Morgause cast the spell yet?" I asked.

In order for _Cyfnewid mi rhad ac am ddim_, to work, the person taking the sorcerer's place has to stay on the Isle of the Blessed for three days. After that the sorcerer is free to cast the spell any time before their week is up," Merlin finished.

Lancelot's POV

Once Merlin had finished explaining, I began counting up how long we'd been there. Even though I already knew today had been our third day on the Isle of the Blessed.

"We have to get off this island," I said.

"It doesn't matter, we've been here too long, the person she's picked to replace her won't be able to leave, and I'm willing to bet there's a spell stopping us leaving. She'll want revenge once she's free," Merlin muttered.

The silent message was that Merlin could not break Morgause's spells, she was too powerful, or at least the magic she was using was.

"You know, this place needs a new name; the Isle of the Damned, or the Isle of Creepy Magical Powers Which Might Be Good or Bad but Keep Trying to Kill Us," Gwaine said conversationally.

"That last ones a bit long," I snorted.

"How do we stop Morgause?" Arthur asked, ignoring us.

"If we kill her before she completes the spell, then she'll die again, but this time there's nothing that could bring her back," Merlin said.

"Good plan, let's go," Arthur began picking up his sword, and packing up the camp.

"Shouldn't we plan this first?" I asked.

"No time, Morgause could, and most likely is, casting the spell," Arthur pointed out.

We packed up camp silently before leaving. I saw Merlin mutter something and his eyes flash gold before we got to what had been the edge of our camp.

**Next chapter is the last, and it should be out tonight! I'm typing it up right now. See the little button here? Click it, tell me what you think. :)**


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer:**** I do not own Merlin (no matter how much I'd like to). I'm just borrowing him for a bit of non-profit fun.**

**Author's Note:**** Since I've just added the last chapter I haven't got any reviews yet, but thanks to everyone who will review! Last chapter now, hope you like it. Enjoy!**

**Chapter 8**

Merlin's POV

"Do you know where you're going?" Gwaine asked.

"To find Morgause," Arthur snapped.

"For all we know, we could be gong the wrong way," Lancelot pointed out.

"We're going the right way," I said.

A current of magic was leading this way, a spell had been cast so that the magic was hidden, but I'd managed to find it anyway.

Gwaine shuddered, and turned to face me.

"Six," he gasped.

"Six what?" Lancelot asked.

I had a feeling about what he meant, but I was hoping otherwise.

"Six more jolts and I'm dead," Gwaine said.

Arthur swore.

"We need to find her!" He shouted.

"Didn't know you cared," Gwaine said.

"He doesn't, he's worried about what will happen once you're dead," Lancelot said.

"That makes me feel so much better," he pouted, but ruined it by rolling his eyes.

"Come on, we need to keep going," I set off walking in the direction of the magic, not caring if the others followed or not.

Gwaine's POV

We followed Merlin, I thought Arthur might complain about having to follow his servant, but it seemed like he trusted Merlin to know where to go.

"Five," I gasped, as another jolt ran through me.

I'd been hoping the pain lessened as the jolts went on, but instead it seemed even more painful. Joy.

"Are you okay?" Lancelot asked.

"I'll feel better when Morgause is gone," I muttered.

"Look on the bright side; if we don't kill her, you don't have to do training with Arthur when she's free," Lancelot said.

"Remind me to haunt you if everything goes wrong," I laughed.

He had a point though, if Morgause won, Arthur would be angry, and training would be brutal.

"Four," I shivered.

"They're coming more often," Arthur noted, alarmed.

"She knows we're coming, she's trying to cast the spell faster," Merlin looked worried.

We walked on in silence, everyone kept looking at me.

Eventually though, we found her, she was in one of the rooms from the ruins of the castle. By the looks of it, she was already half way through the spell. There was a red circle surrounding her, but it wasn't finished.

When she saw us she said something, and the worst jolt yet ran through me.

"Two," I panted.

It was pointless to tell them when it was obvious, (I'd collapsed) but just in case.

"You can't stop me!" Morgause screamed, she sounded awful; craziness mixed with a child's voice.

Arthur's POV

"Will someone just stab her already?" Gwaine asked from his place on the floor, completely calm despite the fact if everything went wrong he'd be the first to die.

"Allow me," I said.

Taking it at a run, I jumped into Morgause's unfinished circle.

"You're not going to kill an innocent child are you?" Morgause asked, letting a childlike note into her voice.

Merlin had warned me this might happen, that she'd play to my conscience.

Without hesitation, I plunged the sword into her stomach, in the same place her sister had stabbed Merlin, it was only fair since Merlin was like my brother (though I'd never tell him that).

Unlike Merlin though, Morgause would not recover from this wound, I wouldn't give her the chance. For Merlin, Gwaine, and my kingdom, I pulled my sword out, twisting it around slightly to make sure she would die.

Once the sword was out, Morgause looked up at me, her form kept changing from that of a child, to her adult body from before she'd died the first time.

"Y-you're your f-fathers s-son," she whispered, the light leaving her eyes.

"She's dead," I said emotionlessly.

Merlin's POV

"Actually, she's dead again," Lancelot pointed out.

"After all that, and it was over so fast," Gwaine sighed.

"Were you hoping for a fight?" Arthur asked.

It seemed Morgause's final words had had the opposite effect on Arthur to what she'd hoped, instead of being upset, he looked proud.

"Well, maybe not a fight, but something more exciting," Gwaine said.

We laughed at him.

Lancelot's POV

On the way back to Camelot at last. We'd gotten off the Isle of the Blessed easily, but no one wanted to go back any time soon. Nimueh hadn't shown up, but faced with the fact we were finally going home, no one cared.

"We've still got to worry about Morgana. It will be even worse when she finds out Morgause is dead again," I said to Arthur.

Merlin and Gwaine were setting up camp for the last time before we reached Camelot.

"I know. How could she become so evil?" Arthur asked, not really expecting an answer.

"She's a sorcerer," I said, I was curious about what he thought of magic.

"Not all magic is bad though," he said.

I saw his eyes flick briefly towards Merlin. It seemed like Gwaine wasn't the only one who had listened to me and Merlin talking.

_Keep the magic secret._

**Hope you enjoyed my first fanfic! This was the last chapter. See the little button here? Click it, tell me what you think. :)**


	9. Sequel

**SEQUEL NOW OUT! **

**For everyone who loved this story so much they wanted a sequel! **

_**Title:**__** Mistress of Power **_

_**Summary:**__** Sequel to Servant of Magic. Four weeks have past since Arthur, Lancelot, Gwaine and Merlin escaped the Isle of the Blessed, Morgana is finally back and ready to fight again, but what reason does Nimueh have for coming back to Camelot? And is it just a coincidence that they show up at the same time?**_


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